Andre-Pierre Benguerel
It is with great sadness that I report the death of André-Pierre on June 25 2015 following a long period of leukemia. A Professor Emeritus of the School Andre-Pierre was the first faculty member I hired from Gordon Peterson’s lab at the University of Michigan, to join the Division of Audiology and Speech Sciences in the Department of Paediatrics, the School’s first home at UBC. Many of the first classes of students will recall his insistence that they come with a background in calculus, and the terror of his first exam in the Fall Term. His interest in Speech Science centred on coarticulation, an area of the field to which he made a number of highly original contributions, which continue to be referenced in current research. He took few sabbaticals during his tenure at UBC, but the most significant was to the University of Tokyo in the late ‘70s that gave him a lifelong taste for sushi and sashimi, which on his return he shared with any who cared to join his at one of the few Japanese restaurants in Vancouver at that, usually on East Hastings. Many of his early graduate students will recall with fondness their first taste of fondue or raclette at his dining room table – and the penalty for losing a piece of bread. I know that he will be remembered by his many friends, colleagues, and former graduate students as a gentle man, a scrupulous scientist, a just teacher, a caring friend and mentor, a music lover, an avid and enquiring traveller, a gourmet—and a gourmand. His searching questions, worldview, and wise counsel will be sorely missed by all of us. He was a particular friend to Carolyn and me, and to our children. He is survived by his brother François (wife Margit) of Basle, Switzerland, a nephew and niece, and their children.
John H.V.Gilbert C.M., Ph.D., FCAHS
Founding Director